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Sunday, August 21, 2016

8/22/16—Sharing Six Things About Happiness

Odd piece of trivia: people tend to like enumerated lists of things. So if you get an email with a subject line that says "Five Things Weird People Do," you're more likely to open that than an email that just says "Stuff Weird People Do." Before
you protest and tell me all about how you'll read any email with
"stuff" in the subject line, there are, no doubt, exceptions. And you, a
board-certified snowflake, may be one of them. But it's just one of
those things the advertising industry does research on, then pumps into
my head. So I thought I'd share it with you. Now here's a classic post, "Six Things To Know About Happiness." 1. Happiness Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be. You
very well may be happy right now and not even know it. It doesn't
necessarily come with a balloon and streamers attached. It's not
necessarily something you get in exchange for something good you've
done. It's merely a feeling of remarkable wellbeing in body, mind,
emotion, and/or soul. And by "remarkable", I'm not talking "rare". I'm
talking, "hey, I'm remarking that I'm happy!" (Notice the lone
exclamation point?) So it's not quite joy or bliss (which *do* come with
streamers...AND a few extra exclamation points). Happiness is just a
nice smile that comes from within. :) 2. Happiness is Not a Destination. It's
part of the journey. There's never going to come a day when you're
"Happy. Period." We all have ups and downs. We may be happy in one area
of our lives and less than happy in another. It's not a place to land
and plant roots. Nor do you want it to be. Because happiness should
never become mundane. If it's how you felt all the time, it wouldn't be
such a gift. 3. Gratitude is a Direct Route to Happiness.Want
to be happy? Count your blessings. We are all so incredibly blessed and
we don't even realize it half the time because we're looking at all the
areas where life has fallen short of our expectations. Well what about
the vastly larger number of areas in which it has met and exceeded...or
at the very least mirrored the effort we put forth?4. Happiness is a Choice. In
most moments, you can choose to be happy. You can choose to see your
situation as a gift. Sure, if the bad guys are chasing you with guns,
it's hard to be happy. Unless you like that sort of thing. But most of
us lead pretty tame lives. And we can choose to let some inconsiderate
person, for example, ruin our day. Or we can choose to focus on the
positives, see how good we've got it and let our bodies and minds flow
with gratitude. Now, chemicals in our body can make our moods shift. But
even those, we can choose to improve through exercise or
pharmaceuticals or whatever. But still, we're all human, so there will
be times it won't be a choice. But many times it is. 5. You Can't Know Another Person's Happiness. So
stop looking over the fence and thinking that person is happy!
C'mon...think about all the times you walk around with a smile on, even
though you're less than happy. Well, newsflash! Everyone else is doing
that, too. In fact, some people are significantly better at looking
happy than you are. The Dalai Lama is probably the happiest person on
earth (that I know of, at least) and even his moods modulate. Besides,
he's waited on hand and foot, worshipped far and wide and hugely
respected. He was literally born to be a leader and a holy leader. But
he was a leader in exile most of his life and his people were
oppressed...all this happening to a very compassionate man. You want his
problems? I didn't think so. So be careful what you're wishing for. 6. Happiness Shouldn't Necessarily Be Your Goal. Contentment
should. See, the ultimate goal in life is supposed to be balance,
right? Well, happiness is weighted to one side of the spectrum. It's not
in the center. And the things beyond center are harder to maintain. Not
only that, but in order to have balance, things that are weighted to
one end eventually have to be mirrored by things weighted at the other
end. But contentment is at the center. It's satisfaction. It's upturned
lips and a relaxed brow, but not quite a full-on smile. With
contentment, there may be things in your life that are less than hunky
dory, but you'll take it. Because it's pretty good overall...pretty good
for a Wednesday. It's the wellbeing without the exclamation point. And
it feels really nice. And, with the right mindset, you can maintain it
longer.

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About Me

I am an award-winning freelance advertising copywriter with over 25 years in the industry. I'm also an aficionado of the psychic arts, having read tarot for half my life. I developed three self-published Lenormand decks and the groundbreaking Deck of 1000 Spreads, published by Llewellyn, all of which are available through this site. I am currently working on a non-fiction spiritual book.